


In the End

by through_shadows_falling



Series: Supernatural Ficlets [42]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angel Castiel, Angst and Feels, Bittersweet, Brother Feels, Human Sam, M/M, Team Free Will, Vampire Dean Winchester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2015-11-01
Packaged: 2018-04-29 09:43:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5123117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/through_shadows_falling/pseuds/through_shadows_falling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean growled. He knew that Sam was fading. He wouldn’t have many chances left to say yes to Dean's offer.</p><p>Castiel put a hand on his shoulder. “Dean, calm down. It’s his decision.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the End

“I said  _no_ , Dean,” Sam said, and though he’d grown stooped with age, and his hair had turned gray a long time ago, his eyes were steely in their resolution. 

Dean growled. He stood up and paced Sam’s living room, wanting to tear his hair out in frustration, but Castiel stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Dean, calm down. It’s his decision.”

Dean wanted to explode at him, but he knew Castiel was right. He’d been asking Sam for years. What would make him change his mind now?

Except for his heart, which beat slower and slower every time Dean and Castiel visited. Except for the way Sam’s breaths labored in his lungs, his muscles creaked, his memory worsened. 

Dean’s heightened senses picked up all of it, and he hated that there was nothing he could do.

Sam was fading. Sam was  _dying_. He wouldn’t have many chances left to say yes. And though he’d be stuck in an old man’s body, he wouldn’t  _feel_  like it. 

If only Sam had agreed back when Dean first turned, so they could’ve become immortal together, in younger bodies.

But Castiel was now giving Dean that look that told him to drop it, and his shoulders fell. Castiel’s hand slid from his shoulder to the back of his neck, where it was warm against his cold skin. Dean concentrated on the feeling, and on the nearness of his angel.

Castiel’s heartbeat, unlike Sam’s, remained steady, even though Dean had fed from him that morning. It was their routine, whenever they visited Sam, for Dean to feed beforehand. He refused to feed from his brother. 

Of course, Dean fed from Castiel all the time. Usually in smaller amounts, but Dean wouldn’t risk losing it in front of Sam, even though it’d been years, heck,  _decades_  since he’d been turned, and he could control his urges for the most part.

“It’s not that bad,” Dean said, and he grimaced as Castiel’s fingernails dug into his neck. Oh, right, he was supposed to be letting this go.

From his chair, Sam sighed. “I’m not talking about this anymore, Dean. I’ve lived a long life. I’m okay with dying. No matter where I end up.”

“What do you mean by that? You’re going to Heaven, Sam. I’m the one who’ll end up in Purgatory when all’s said and done.”

“Not if I have any say,” Castiel said, and his grip on Dean’s neck tightened until Dean winced in pain.

“Ow, Cas, can you not?”

“Sorry,” Castiel said sheepishly as he retracted his hand. 

Sam glanced between them, a soft smile on his face. “I don’t have what you have, so it wouldn’t be the same, anyways.”

Dean shrugged. “Come on, you could find your own angel concubine. Can’t be that hard.”

“ _Dean,_ ” Castiel warned.

Dean rolled his eyes. “Sorry, babe. Didn’t mean to use the ‘c’ word. But that’s kinda what you are.” Though Castiel would never show the puncture marks, unless he wanted to. Or Dean wanted him to.

Having an angel boyfriend to feed from was awesome like that. After all, Dean could suck him dry and Castiel wouldn’t die. He might be out of it until his vessel replenished its blood supply, but he’d be fine and raring to go soon enough. 

Dean had yet to discover anything  _but_  perks about their situation, actually. 

Well, except for the occasional hunter, though Sam had kept most of Dean’s old pals off his tracks. Since Bobby’s death, Sam had taken over for the old coot, and now ran a hunter’s network out of the Men of Letters bunker. He was damn good at it, too. 

Dean didn’t know how much longer Sam could handle it, but at the rate he was going, he’d be helping hunters until he breathed his last breath.

Which was painful to think about, but not as bad as it used to be. Time had softened the blow of Sam’s inevitable death, but that didn’t mean Dean was ready for it. They’d faced a lot of shit in their lives, and yeah, Sammy deserved some rest, but who knew when Dean would see him again, if ever?

Sometimes at night, when Dean lay awake, Castiel would curl up next to him and whisper that everything would be alright, that he would make sure Dean and Sam would be reunited in their next lives, that he would stay with Dean for however long Dean wanted, and then follow him wherever he chose to go.

Castiel was way more than a concubine.

He was…everything.

A snore sounded from near Sam’s chair, where his old dog, Rusty, lay curled up, taking an afternoon nap. Sam bent down to scratch his ears, and Rusty twitched.

“I don’t want to be a vampire, Dean,” Sam said after the silence had stretched for a long moment. “I just want to be me.” He paused to scoff. “The man with the demon blood. Lucifer’s vessel. Whatever I am.”

“You’re Sam Winchester,” Castiel said. “The man who saved the world.”

Sam ducked his head, embarrassed. “You don’t need to do that, Cas.”

“But I do,” Cas insisted. He broke away from Dean and strode over to Sam. “You’re important, and you will be missed. And no one’s going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“Yeah, Sammy,” Dean said, as he joined Castiel. “I didn’t want you to think… I’m not going to  _make_ you become like me. I just. I’m just gonna miss you, is all.” Dean swallowed around a lump in his throat.

Sam lifted his head and smirked. “Yeah, right. Like you two will notice me gone with all your crazy angel-vampire sex or whatever you do. You don’t want me third-wheeling anyways.”

Dean huffed out a laugh. “Okay, fair enough.”

Sam grabbed a cane from where it leaned against his chair, and carefully levered himself to his feet. He looked to Castiel, who nodded and then disappeared. 

“What? Where’d he–?”

“I just wanted to talk. The two of us. You, uh, up for some star-gazing?”

Dean blinked around eyes that suddenly burned. “Of course. But aren’t you going to freeze to death, old man?”

“I’ll survive for a little while,” Sam said, with a faint smile on his lips. Still, as they headed toward the door, Dean pivoted on his heel to race back to the closet, where he grabbed a bunch of blankets. The cold didn’t bother him as much as it used to, but he’d make sure Sam was nice and comfy.

They assumed their positions around the Impala, which still gleamed with the polish Dean had put on this morning. He wondered if he’d outlive his Baby, or if she’d keep going as long as he did.

Dean tucked more blankets around Sam when he shivered, which Sam accepted without a word. They both craned their heads back to view the stars, and the quiet between them was comfortable even as it lengthened. 

“Thank you, Dean. For everything,” Sam said at last. “I…” he trailed off, as he must’ve realized, like Dean, that they didn’t really need to say anything. 

They already knew how they felt about each other. 

“Yeah,” Dean said, and he patted his brother’s hand. 

“I, uh, don’t have long, do I?” Sam asked. 

Dean coughed around the tightness in his throat. “No, don’t think so. Your heart’s getting slow.”

“Mm. Well, I hope Cas takes care of your sorry ass.”

Dean turned to smirk at him, and Sam grimaced, his nose wrinkling.

“I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”

“You sure did, Sammy.”

“You love him, don’t you?”

Dean inhaled a bracing breath. “Yeah. I do. I always will.”

“Good. I’m glad you have each other.”

“I wish…you had found someone,” Dean said. 

“I did,” Sam said, his smile soft and his gaze distant. “I found many different someones. And maybe I’ll meet them again.”

Dean went through the names and faces in his mind. His brother may not have had someone in the end, but he’d loved and been loved in return. And yeah, he’d lived a long and very eventful life. 

Maybe…maybe it’d be okay.

“You ready to go back in?” Dean asked, after several minutes had passed.

Sam’s teeth chattered, and he nodded. “Yeah. I’m ready.”

So they went back inside, where Castiel was waiting for them. By unspoken agreement, he and Dean decided to spend the night.

And after Sam fell asleep in his own bed, with Rusty burrowed into the blankets beside him, his heart slowed, and then stopped. 

It didn’t start again, and Dean burned his brother with his angel at his side. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really proud of this one. I didn't realize it would get so angsty when I formulated the idea but...I really love it.


End file.
